Charges filed in Canada against Waukegan businessman

Lisa Black

Canadian authorities have filed arson and murder charges against Waukegan businessman Gregory Flesher, a former mayoral candidate accused of setting fires on both sides of the border, one of which resulted in the death of a woman, officials announced Tuesday.

Police in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, issued an arrest warrant for Flesher, 48, who remains in Lake County jail in connection with a May 4 fire in Waukegan that destroyed a vacant building, according to a news release.

“Investigators continue to work with law enforcement officials in the United States as well as the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office and the Northern Regional Forensic Lab as this investigation continues,” according to Sgt Lisa Kenopic, spokeswoman for the Sault Ste. Marie police.

Flesher is charged with second degree murder and arson in a fire at 606 Wellington Street East, Sault Ste. Marie, where 48-year-old Leeanne Elizabeth Hill died.

Authorities say they believe Flesher -- who once ran for Waukegan mayor and the Lake County Board -- intentionally set both the May 19 fire in Canada and the May 4 blaze that destroyed a former Salvation Army warehouse in downtown Waukegan.

While Canadian officials have begun the extradition process, they will not arrest Flesher until his Lake County case concludes, Kenopic said.

“It’s really dependent on what happens there,” she said by phone. “We don’t have any control over the process there. We don’t know what the duration of that will be.”

Lake County Judge Theodore Potkonjak set Flesher's bond at $1 million but raised it to $2.5 million after prosecutors cited Hill's death during a bond hearing in September.

Prosecutors did not say what drew their attention to Flesher, owner of Flesher Plastering. Officials noted similarities between the Waukegan and Canada fires.

He also faces charges of criminal damage to property stemming from a third incident on May 11 in which officials said he was seen placing fireworks in another Waukegan building.

Authorities say they believe that after that incident, Flesher fled to Canada, at which point his wife reported him missing.